Sheriff to appealdeputy reinstatement

J.D. Prose

Thursday

Jul 15, 2010 at 12:01 AM

BEAVER - Beaver County Sheriff George David will appeal an arbitrator's ruling that orders him to reinstate a fired deputy and give him back pay.

Speaking for David, county solicitor Myron Sainovich said Wednesday that the ruling by arbitrator Michael McDowell will be appealed in Beaver County Court. David, Sainovich said, will argue, much as the county did unsuccessfully in May before McDowell, that the case involving Joey David, a second cousin of the sheriff, never should have gone to arbitration.

As sheriff, David has the right to manage his department as he sees fit, including dismissing employees, Sainovich said. But the deputies union was awarded the right to arbitrate dismissals in September 2007 during contract arbitration under former Sheriff Felix DeLuca Jr.

Sainovich said George David believes he should not be bound by that ruling because he didn't take office until January 2008.

"Under the county code, the sheriff has that (firing) power, and (George David) is asserting that power and saying, 'You can't take it away from me.' "

Eric Stoltenberg, the attorney for the Beaver County Deputy Sheriffs Association who represents Joey David, disagrees. The sheriff, he said, "doesn't come in and say, 'It doesn't apply to me,' and it's gone."

In his ruling, McDowell rejected the county's argument, citing legal precedents and Sheriff David's decision to sign an agreement with Joey David in March 2009.

That agreement stipulated that the sheriff would not take any additional action against Joey David and the deputy would not file any more grievances related to an alcohol-fueled incident at the MPI Club in Aliquippa in November 2008 for which Joey David was suspended 60 days.

In effect, McDowell ruled that the agreement was Sheriff David's tacit approval of the arbitration process.

Stoltenberg said the sheriff had two years to dispute the arbitration rights before his cousin's case occurred, but did not. "He never sought out the union to remove that provision from the contract," Stoltenberg said.

LAST CHANCE

After Joey David returned from suspension in March 2009, he was given, but refused to sign, a "last-chance agreement" that said he would be fired for another violation of departmental rules.

McDowell said in his ruling that the county was required to prove that Joey David was drunk and guilty of misconduct Jan. 17, 2010, when he allegedly threatened to shoot himself at his home in Harmony Township. Joey David was fired on Jan. 29, but no criminal charges were ever filed.

GIRLFRIEND RECANTS

Joey David's girlfriend, Tabatha Anderson, who lives with him, initially told police that he was drunk and put his gun in his mouth. She and her children fled the home before police arrived and surrounded the house.

In the hearing in May, though, Anderson recanted her story, claiming that she suffers from mental health problems, was battling depression in January because of the deaths of her sister and grandfather, and was on three different prescription drugs.

Anderson said she snapped when she learned that Joey David had bought a wedding dress for his daughter. The two fought, and then Anderson made a call to 911 that McDowell described as "very dramatic, loud and excited."

According to McDowell, Anderson said, "He came out of the bedroom with his gun in his mouth. There has been some trouble with us and his daughter for the last couple of days. ... It's not the first time he has tried to kill himself. You can ask his father, his sister and his brother."

McDowell said in his ruling that Joey David came outside after speaking to a county detective on the phone and seemed, according to officers at the scene, genuinely surprised at the commotion.

"The officers could tell that (David) had been drinking as he had a very strong smell of alcohol," McDowell said, adding that Joey David was not "stumbling, falling down drunk or combative."

Joey David was taken to a hospital and submitted to a mental health evaluation. He was released the next morning.

Anderson testified before McDowell that she lost it when Joey David said, "This has got to end," a comment she took as referring to their relationship, not him committing suicide.

Under questioning, Anderson said she lied to the 911 dispatcher. She also said that she admitted to lying about Joey David that night to hospital doctors and later to Sheriff David.

TAINTED TESTIMONY?

McDowell ruled that Joey David was intoxicated Jan. 17 while also allowing that police officers who testified in May might have been "toning down their testimony" to help Joey David's case.

Sainovich said Sheriff David thinks that officers played down Joey David's level of intoxication in their testimony before McDowell.

In fact, Sainovich said there were discussions among county officials Wednesday about asking an "outside agency" to investigate the testimony given by several officers.

Regardless, Sainovich said Sheriff David is adamant that his cousin not return as a deputy, citing Joey David's issues with alcohol and access to weapons and vehicles.

"He just really believes that it's dangerous to have (Joey David) out there and that it's an issue of safety," Sainovich said. "It is a clear issue of safety for the citizens, and he does not intend to take (Joey David) back."

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